Honing Your Resume (Hint: Don’t Copy a Bad Job Description)

You know how job descriptions are often a huge list of bullet points? Unfortunately your resume can’t be as well. So how are you supposed to tailor your resume to the job then?

• Determine the top skills and requirements of the target job. For example, think about the critical functions of the job and the biggest issues the target is facing. Also look at similar job descriptions for overlap.
• Map your resume to these top requirements.
• Across in-house jobs, employers also want lawyers who have experience counseling (especially cross-functional teams), scaling, and drafting and negotiating skills (for transactional jobs).

Formatting matters.

• Under each employer on your resume, list 4-6 bullets tops, not 10+ like the job description has. Sub-bullets are ok.
• Definitely include proper spacing and white space so your resume is easy to skim.